ENCINITAS – A local family is urgently looking for a kidney donor to help restore a father’s quality of life, but they’re not alone.
According to Scripps, there are more than 110,000 people in the United States waiting for a life-saving organ.
Curtis Choe, a resident of Encinitas, 37, father of three and husband of Alyssa, is one of those people. Although he lived for several years with low function in one kidney, Curtis was forced to undergo dialysis in January.
At least 10 friends and family of the Choe have applied as possible donors – one has gone far enough in the process – only to be subsequently denied.
“Five to seven years is the typical wait time for someone in need of a kidney transplant to receive a donated deceased organ,” said Steve Carpowich, public relations manager at Scripps Health. “This is one of the reasons why we encourage the donation of living organs. Although the work depends on the living donor, the time for transplantation is much shorter with a living donor ”.
However, a living donor can help initiate a grueling and critical medical process.
Now, the family is doing what it can to entice potential donors after the failed attempts. Last year, Alyssa launched the “Curtis Kidney Campaign” on GoFundMe, which was started to cover uninsured donor expenses. About a quarter of the more than $ 20,000 raised has been used so far.
According to the National Kidney Foundation, most people can live healthy, uninhibited lives with one kidney, as evidenced by the thousands of successful kidney donations recorded in the United States. A person can be born with a kidney, a condition called renal agenesis, or a functioning kidney, which is called renal dysplasia.
There is a possibility that kidney function may decrease, however, when there is a functioning kidney. This decline can take 25 years to manifest if the person was born with a condition.
When he was 25, Curtis was diagnosed with gout. After a series of tests, doctors found that only one kidney was working, a condition that could be genetic. His grandfather and mother both suffered from kidney problems, but when Curtis started to emerge, it wasn’t worth making a diagnosis, he said.
“When I found out, my kidney doctor said, ‘We can do a biopsy of your kidney to try and figure out what it is, but the treatment won’t change,'” explained Curtis, adding that to perform a test. , a piece of your kidney should be removed – worsening of function. “So, we just decided it wasn’t worth getting our diagnosis. We knew what we had to do regardless of what caused it. “
Curtis knew he would eventually need a transplant. So the couple, who on their honeymoon toured Europe admiring wine and pasta, got into action and cleaned up their diet.
For eight years, Alyssa said her husband was able to monitor her kidney disease with her nephrologist. Then, in August 2020, finding Curtis’ single kidney functioning at 12% “his doctor said OK, we have to prepare for this,” Alyssa said. “It was just going down as fast as every six months, it was going down like any other like one at 2%. So, at that point, we knew like, OK, this is going to have to happen sooner or later.”
First, Curtis’ two older sisters and parents were tested at the Scripps Health Transplant Center.
“And everyone, long story short, was denied for one reason or another,” Alyssa said.
By January 2022, Curtis’ kidney function had dropped to 8%, triggering the need for dialysis. Now, every day for five hours, Curtis has to undergo treatment pending a positive donation.
Being evaluated for a kidney transplant is tiring and getting approval is no small feat for either the donor or the recipient of the organ. There are forms to fill out and steps to go through. Someone might be allowed to donate an organ, however, but not to Curtis or a specific individual.
“Our friend was recently denied, which we were very disappointed with because she has the same blood type as my husband,” Alyssa said. “So that was nice, pretty upsetting.”
However, people keep coming forward for Curtis, who doesn’t believe his story is worth an article in a newspaper.
One of the Choe’s friends, Curtis’ best friend in high school, is currently headed in a good direction at the transplant center, Alyssa explained. The donor has type A negative blood, and while Curtis has type O positive blood, the two may be eligible for a paired exchange.
If a donor is incompatible with a recipient but eligible to donate, the couple can be matched with another patient group for an exchange. In this procedure, a living kidney transplant may be compatible with another person on the waiting list. This is called coupled exchange as it is another tool to help meet the organ recipients’ need.
“Nothing has happened yet,” Alyssa said. “We thought the coupled exchange would happen pretty quickly. We thought it might be last year, before the end of the year, and we’re still waiting here. “
Although he is lucky enough to have treatments at home, he is time consuming and has a young family. Bentley, 6, Kingston, 4, and Lennon, 1, keep the couple around, which was an outlet.
“There’s always someone who needs something, but that’s what makes us move,” Alyssa said.
Life around the Choes does not stop and neither do they intend to.
Alyssa and Curtis are optimistic, despite her grief. But it is what it is, Curtis said.
“I know we will make it,” Alyssa said. “We are really in the trenches right now. We are dealing with this, but it will not always be the case. We’re going to look back at this and say, ‘Oh my God, do you remember those two years and we survived?’ “
Does a donor family learn who receives the organs?
Contents
All correspondence between donor families and recipients is anonymous until / unless both parties decide they want to share contact information and communicate directly.
Who talks to the family about organ donation? Federal law requires that only doctors who have completed certified training approach the family regarding organ donation. Physicians who approach families independently are associated with the lowest consent rate. Therefore, it is good practice for OPO staff to address families along with the healthcare team.
Can families override organ donation?
As an adult (18 years or older), your decision to be a donor is an advance directive authorized in the first person. Just like a will, this decision is legally binding and cannot be overruled by your family; that is why it is so important to discuss the donation with your loved ones.
Who decides who receives an organ?
Using a combination of donor and candidate medical data, including blood type, medical urgency, and location of transplant and donor hospitals, the UNOS system generates a ranking of candidates to offer to each organ. This correspondence is unique to each donor and each organ.
Do organ donor family meets recipient?
Sometimes donor families and recipients choose to contact each other. Although the decision to share your experience is a personal choice, many donor and recipient families find solace in correspondence.
Who is the best match for a kidney transplant?
Recipients with blood group ABâ € ¦ can receive a kidney from blood groups A, B, AB and O (AB is the universal recipient: recipients with blood AB are compatible with any other blood group)
Who has priority for kidney transplantation? Background Kidney transplantation is associated with the best outcomes for most ESKD patients. The National Kidney Allocation System prioritizes patients with Estimated Post-Transplant Survival (EPTS) scores in the top 20% for accelerated access to the kidneys of optimal deceased donors.
Who are the best kidney matches?
Since you will need to find a compatible kidney donor, a blood relative may be your best match, although a kidney may also come from a close friend, acquaintance or colleague. Speaking openly about your donor search can help identify potential donors.
Where kidney will be most accepted by a person?
During kidney transplant surgery, the donor kidney is placed in the lower abdomen. The blood vessels of the new kidney are attached to the blood vessels in the lower abdomen, just above one of the legs. The new ureter of the kidney is connected to the bladder.
Who is the best kidney donor?
The most suitable donor is usually a brother, sister, father, mother, son or daughter, but other more distant relatives and friends are sometimes suitable. It is up to kidney patients to ask their relatives / friends to see if they are willing to donate a kidney.
What is a perfect kidney match?
Receiving a kidney in which the recipient and donor markers are all the same is a “perfect” kidney. Perfect Match transplants have the best chance of working for many years.
Do you have to be a perfect match to be a kidney donor?
Even if you’re not a good match, you may still be able to donate a kidney. Depending on the transplant center, you may be able to participate in a matched donor exchange, or the intended recipient may be desensitized by removing antibodies directed against you.
Are parents always a match for kidney donation?
Some living donor transplants are done between family members who are genetically similar. Better genetic match reduces the risk of rejection. A living donor kidney usually functions immediately, because the kidney is out of the body for a very short period of time.
Are family members usually kidney matches?
Siblings have a 25% chance of being an “exact match” for a living donor and a 50% chance of being a “half match”. Donor compatibility is established through blood tests that look for matching blood groups and antigens. The general health of the potential donor is also of paramount importance.
What makes you a kidney donor match?
There are three main blood tests that will determine if a patient and potential donor are a renal match. They are blood typing, tissue typing and cross matching.
Do you have to be an exact match to donate a kidney?
Your blood and tissue type must be compatible with that of your recipient. In addition to being healthy, living donors must have blood and tissue types compatible with the recipient kidney. The transplant team will perform tests to see if your blood and tissues are compatible (they are a healthy match) with the kidney recipient.
Are children kidney matches to parents?
Nearly half of kidney transplants for children come from living donors. The donors for children are often their parents, siblings or other family members. Parents of a child with kidney disease are usually the best donors because they often have the same blood type and correspond to tissues.
Who is a good candidate for kidney donation?
As a general rule, you should be at least 18 years old. You also need to have normal kidney function. There are some medical conditions that may prevent you from being a living donor. These include uncontrolled hypertension, diabetes, cancer, HIV, hepatitis, or acute infections.
What is a perfect kidney match?
Receiving a kidney in which the recipient and donor markers are all the same is a “perfect” kidney. Perfect Match transplants have the best chance of working for many years.
Who is most likely to be able to donate a kidney?
Family members are often more likely to be compatible living kidney donors, but many people undergo successful kidney transplants donated by people who are not related to them. Living donors will need to undergo a full medical examination, be at least 18 years old, and be in good physical and mental health.
Who is most likely to be a match for a kidney transplant?
Siblings have a 25% chance of being an “exact match” for a living donor and a 50% chance of being a “half match”. Donor compatibility is established through blood tests that look for matching blood groups and antigens. The general health of the potential donor is also of paramount importance.
What makes a good candidate for a kidney transplant?
You may be a candidate for a kidney transplant if your doctor * has diagnosed you with kidney failure or end-stage kidney disease. This means that your kidneys can no longer filter blood properly. You may already be on dialysis.
Can a kidney donor live a normal life?
After one kidney is removed for donation, the remaining kidney undergoes a process known as “compensatory hypertrophy,” meaning it grows in size and assumes the function of the other kidney as well. The donor leads a normal life after the donation.
Can you live a full life after donating a kidney? The amount of research on the long-term risks of kidney donation is limited. However, most studies suggest that you can live a normal, healthy life with one kidney. In fact, when a kidney is removed, the single normal kidney will increase the ability to compensate.
Are there any long-term effects of donating a kidney?
In general, kidney donation presents minimal long-term risks, especially when compared with the health risks of the general population. However, donating kidneys may slightly increase your risk of developing kidney failure, particularly if you are a middle-aged black man.
What is the expected lifetime of a donated kidney?
The median long-term survival of kidneys from live donors is 12-20 years versus 7-8 years for those obtained from cadaveric donors.
Does kidney donation affect your life?
Living donation does not change life expectancy and does not appear to increase the risk of kidney failure. In general, most people with only one normal kidney have little or no problems; however, you should always speak to your transplant team about the risks associated with donating.
What are the negative effects of organ donation?
Immediate risks associated with organ donation surgery include pain, infection, hernia, bleeding, blood clots, wound complications and, in rare cases, death. Long-term follow-up information on living organ donors is limited and studies are ongoing.
What are the negative effects of donating a kidney?
Immediate / Surgical Risks
- Ache.
- Infection (such as pneumonia or wound infection)
- Blood clot.
- Reaction to anesthesia.
- Death (the worldwide mortality rate for living kidney donors is between 0.03% and 0.06%)
- Conversion to open nephrectomy.
- Need for further surgery (such as for bleeding)
- Readmission to hospital.
What are the disadvantages of kidney transplant?
Disadvantages: Kidney transplantation is a major surgical procedure that presents risks both during and after surgery. Risks of surgery include infections, bleeding, and damage to surrounding organs. Death can also occur, although this is very rare.
Does donating a kidney cause depression?
In this cohort of 825 LKDs surveyed at a median of 6 years after donation, 5.5% tested positive for anxiety screening, 4.2% tested positive for depression, and 2.1% had reported regretting the donation. We found a moderate correlation between positive anxiety and depression screens (r = 0.52).
Do you feel different after donating a kidney?
Everyone is different, but you may experience a lot of pain after surgery. But it will get easier every day and there are different types of pain relievers to make you feel better. Shortly after surgery, when the anesthesia wears off, you will receive pain medication through a drip into a vein.
How long can you live after kidney donation?
Donating a kidney does not affect a person’s life expectancy. Conversely, studies show that people who donate a kidney outlive the average population. Twenty years after the donation, 85% of the kidney donors were still alive, while the expected survival rate was 66%.
Does donating a kidney shorten your life expectancy?
Living donation does not change life expectancy and does not appear to increase the risk of kidney failure. In general, most people with only one normal kidney have little or no problems; however, you should always speak to your transplant team about the risks associated with donating.
What is the expected lifetime of a donated kidney?
The median long-term survival of kidneys from live donors is 12-20 years versus 7-8 years for those obtained from cadaveric donors.
How long do kidney transplants from living donors last?
Non-direct donation How long does a transplanted kidney last? On average, a living donor kidney lasts 15 to 20 years. Some will last longer; others may last less.
Is removing a kidney major surgery?
A nephrectomy is a major surgery to remove all or part of the kidney. The kidneys are two small, bean-shaped organs in the abdomen.
